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Celiac Disease Stats

1 out of every 133 Americans (about 3 million people or 1% of population) has Celiac Disease.

97% of Americans estimated to have CD are not diagnosed.

CD has over 300 known symptoms although some people experience none.

Age of diagnosis is key: If you are diagnosed between age 2-4, your chance of getting an additional autoimmune disorder is 10.5%. Over the age of 20, that rockets up to 34%.

30% of the US population is estimated to have the genes necessary for CD.

2.5 babies are born every minute in the USA with the genetic makeup to have CD.

There are 15 states in the US with populations less than the total number of Celiacs in the US.

CD affects more people in the US than Crohn’s Disease, Cystic Fibrosis, Multiple Sclerosis and Parkinson’s disease combined.

500,000 new Celiac diagnoses are expected to occur in the US by 2012 -- thanks to efforts to raise public awareness of the disease.

People with CD dine out 80% less than they used to before diagnosis and believe less than 10% of eating establishments have a 'very good' or 'good' understanding of GF diets.

It takes an average of 11 years for patients to be properly diagnosed with CD even though a simple blood test exists.

The average cost of misdiagnosis is $5,000 - $12,000 per person per year. Improving the time to diagnosis could save the health care system millions of dollars annually in unnecessary medical care.

A recent study by Packaged Facts projects that the sales of GF food will reach $2.63 Billion by 2012. The GF market is also projected to hit $5 Billion by 2015.

GF foods are, on average, 242% more expensive then their non-GF counterparts.

The smallest amount of gluten which has been shown by a biopsy to cause damage to a Celiac is 0.1 gram per day - or 1/48th of a slice of bread.

The Food Allergen Labeling & Consumer Protection Act became law in 2006 allowing for easier reading of food labels for those with CD but the law only requires labeling of wheat. Nearly 5 years later, the FDA still has not finalized what it means to label a product Gluten Free.

12% of people in the US who have Down Syndrome also have CD.

8% of people in the US who have Type 1 Diabetes also have CD.

Among people who have a first-degree relative diagnosed with Celiac, as many as 1 in 22 people may have the disease. First degree relatives should be tested yearly for CD even if previous tests were negative.

Tuesday, February 2, 2010

I have just returned from the Wake County Courthouse and will try my best to provide a summary of the nearly 2 and a half hour Preliminary Injunction hearing against Great Specialty Products. To read the background information on this topic, click here for my original post. Click here to read the Preliminary Injunction document.

Before the hearing began, Paul Seelig, owner/operator of Great Specialty Products asked the court for a continuance due to his poor health and lack of time to prepare. His legal counsel resigned from the case late last week and Mr. Seelig claims to be very ill at this time. Judge Titus denied that request and the hearing began as scheduled.

NC Department of Agriculture Summary
The lawyers representing the NCDA&CS started off the hearing seeking a Preliminary Injunction against Great Specialty Products by sharing a large amount of information as to the investigation conducted and the number of complaints received by the state. There were a total of 25 complaints received to date against GSP where consumers reported getting sick from the supposed Gluten Free products being sold. Nine signed affidavits were presented to the court as evidence in the case and 2 live witnesses were heard. One of the affidavits was submitted by Dr. Anant B. Soni, a internal medicine and Gastroenterology expert who assisted the State with information on Celiac Disease and the Gluten Free diet. The State told the court of Paul Seelig's past troubles with the law and some of the other shady things he has been a part of. For example, in 2001/2002, Mr. Seelig was indicted in Montana with various counts of crimes ranging from wire fraud, bank fraud, money laundering, making false claims and making false statements. He was convicted via plea bargain on several of the charges and served several months in jail. Evidence was submitted where Mr. Seelig sent extortionary letters to a company involved in this case (Tribecca Oven) asking for money to be paid to him or legal action would be taken. Mr. Seelig was also shown to have acted under an alias of Jeff or Andrew Gleason and to have claimed various sicknesses in order to delay working with the State's investigation (things like H1N1, quarantined due to staph infection, cancer treatment and even heart attack). Mr. Seelig did not deny any of this information shared with the court. He also presented another fictitious letter from a Millersburg, Ohio Amish bakery called Rise'n Bakeries. This fake bakery was claimed to have been providing Great Specialty Products with Gluten Free baked goods since 1996. The State's investigation found no record of such company ever existing in Ohio.

The State called two witnesses, one a local consumer who was sickened by the bread and a representative from the NC Department of Agriculture. Both provided damning evidence against Great Specialty Products which were not refuted by cross-examination by Mr. Seelig. The details of the thorough and lenghty investigation by the Dept. of Ag were also shared with the court. The Dept. of Ag. was more than fair in their investigation and attempt to work with GSP. Constant stall tactics, lies and the uncooperativeness of Mr. Seelig was also shared with the court. Details about the products being tested by a lab at the University of Nebraska (FDA facility) were also submitted to the court. All tests showed that Great Speciality Products supposed Gluten Free bread actually contained >5,000 PPM. The investigation revealed that GSP was buying regular bread products from a company in NJ called Tribecca Oven and repackaging the products as GF.

Great Specialty Products Defense Summary
Paul Seelig had more than a fair opportunity to present evidence is his defense but was unable to do so. He had numerous chances to cross examine both witnesses and even called his own witness. His lone witness was a GSP employee who worked at the "repackaging facility". Paul Seelig asked the witness a few questions and then abruptly stopped after she gave her honest and condemning answers. Two questions in particular were crucial to the hearing - Mr. Seelig asked his "employee" whether she ever noticed Tribecca Oven products at their facility (a.k.a Paul's house in Durham) when she was preparing Gluten Free bread orders to which she replied "I never really paid attention." Mr. Seelig also asked her if Great Specialty Products indeed ordered their Gluten Free bread products from a company called Rise'n Bakeries in Millersburg, Ohio to which she replied "I don't know". Not even his own employee would defend him. The State's lawyers quickly cross-examined the employee and asked her to read an invoice which details where Great Specialty Products purchased bread from Tribecca Oven. Case closed basically at that point.

Judge Titus, after hearing all the extended testimony, then ruled in favor of granting the Preliminary Injunction against Great Specialty Products, Paul Seelig/Andrew/Jeff Gleason and any other employees of the company to stop selling food products. The judge ordered the company's Web site shut down and that the company must work with the NC Department of Agriculture in their ongoing investigation in any way requested. The judge didn't go as far to shut down the company entirely but did say he was very tempted. The State's investigation will continue until a time at which a Permanent Injunction can be sought. At the very end of the Judge's statement, he said to Mr. Seelig that the deputy has a little something for him. Paul Seelig was then escorted out of the courtroom into a private room where he was placed under arrest for obtaining funds under false pretenses (taking money from consumers for fraudulent GF products). The picture to the left was taken moments before Mr. Seelig was removed by the deputy.

UPDATE 2/2 @ 8PM
The story was shown by NBC17 during it's evening news tonight. Click here for the link and video. During the story, they said that Mr. Seelig collapsed while being taken into custody and was taken to WakeMed for treatment. From this WRAL story, he was later brought back to the magistrate's office and charged with six misdemeanor felony counts of obtaining property by false pretense. His bail was set at $100,000 due to his high flight risk.

UPDATE 2/3 @ 8AM

Some of the media outlets are incorrectly reporting that the charges brought forth against Mr. Seelig yesterday were misdemeanors when they are actually felonies. Paul Seelig will again be in court today @ 2pm.

Click here to read a recap from the News & Observer. Huge thanks to Andrea Weigl from the N&O for helping me shed light on this important story for our community! I've also uploaded his mug shot as well. Beware if you ever see this man.

UPDATE 2/3 @ 2PM
I spoke with someone at the Wake County Courthouse a few minutes ago and they said this hearing has been moved to 2/24/2010 @ 9am. No courtroom has yet been assigned.

UPDATE 2/4 @ 8AM
As ordered by the Court, the Web site address for Great Specialty Products has been removed.

UPDATE 2/5 @ 9AM
Story picked up by Celiac.com, one of the most read Web sites dealing with Celiac or Gluten Free living.

20
comments:

I have also bought products from this man and have some strange stories as well. But my main concern is I paid him with checks. Do you think he will use this in any way, now knowing his history? I feel so taken, I don't think I have ever been scammed before, it's not a good feeling! Thank you for your blog and your updates!

Lee - at the hearing today, the Attorney General's office team mentioned an intermediary company in Virginia where he got the Tribeca Ovens bread and presumably the Bindi desserts and (??) bagels he was selling, as well as the rest of his stuff. I didn't catch the name but it was just three spoken letters.

Maybe Zach wrote it down? I'm sure some googling would turn it up, and my money is on the bagels being another brand that this wholesale distributor made available to its customers.

(The distributor was as outraged as Tribeca Ovens at Paul's actions, from what I have heard.)

Lauren,Hmm, I'm not sure why they didn't call back, but it's been a crazy weekend getting ready for the hearing. I'd give it a few days and consider calling and leaving another message, in case they would like to have an affadavit from you for the trial itself.

Also I can put you in touch with the officer who is pressing the criminal charges, in case it's useful to his case. Email me at thegfcfcookbook@gmail.com

I thought I could spot a con a mile away- in my cynical 40's- but he really fooled me. I'm still shocked. Is he even Amish?? He told me he was.

I'm so curious about the bagels b/c I really want to know the ingredients. I've been eating them with no reaction and so am curious if I'm over my wheat intolerance. It's been years but it has made me so sick in the past that I'm scared to try wheat. Now, I'm wondering if I've been eating it for months with no reaction.

Lee - He is not Amish. Jewish, actually. If you search his name in the News & Observer archives, there's an old article about him and his son Brad that mentions the detail, plus he let it slip in an email to someone where he talks about the "Jewish Rye Bread."

That is true. I have that e-mail, Lee. I asked why Jewish Rye Bread was a choice when rye isn't gluten free. I wanted to see the ingredient list. I didn't get one of course, but he told me ("take it from a real Jewish person...") that rye/gluten wasn't used.

I'm sorry if I wasn't clear too. I knew you agreed. I just wanted to further explain the e-mail I got because I think it's really interesting all the stories that are floating around. No wonder he got nervous when you asked about the Amish family! ;-)

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DISCLAIMER: The contents of Gluten Free Raleigh are solely a summary of the experiences of the author intended for the use of aiding readers living Gluten Free.The author is neither a medical doctor nor a paid endorser of the products/services mentioned on this blog (unless specifically stated otherwise).Please use caution when applying these experiences to your own personal life.